GRADE 11: AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION SUMMER READING 2014 Guiding Questions:  How does context (historical, social, cultural, and economic) influence writers, particularly of non-fiction?  What comprises a rhetorical analysis of non-fiction?  What rhetorical choices are made by writers of nonfiction and WHY? This will be the basis for the first unit following the summer reading. College Board describes AP Language and Composition as a course that focuses on non-fiction and “engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes.” AP Language and Composition “provides students with opportunities to write about a variety of subjects from a variety of disciplines and to demonstrate an awareness of audience and purpose. But the overarching objective . . . is to enable students to write effectively and confidently in their college courses across the curriculum and in their professional and personal lives.” REQUIRED TEXTS:  Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric (You will need to pick up this REQUIRED TEXT before the end of school in D-6.)  Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (You will need to purchase this text.)  The Crucible by Arthur Miller (You will need to purchase this text.) *COMPLETION OF THE SUMMER ASSIGNMENT IS YOUR ADMISSION INTO THE COURSE. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SUMMER WORK. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE EMAIL MRS. DAVIES at [email protected] or MR. HORTON at [email protected]. (1) Language of Composition Read and annotate Chapters 1 – 4. READ FIRST before reading the other texts: These chapters serve as an introduction to the AP Language and Composition course. We will be studying this material together in class and referencing it throughout the year. Actively reading these chapters prepares you for the first lessons in AP Language and Composition and serves as a basis for our study of rhetorical strategies and the skills tested by the AP Language and Composition exam. In addition, an understanding of the concepts in these chapters will support and deepen your reading of the other texts. 1 (2) Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Annotate the Gladwell text. Depending on chapter length, you should identify (do more than highlight) approximately 10 interesting passages per chapter. Your annotations should be guided by your understanding of:  The key elements of rhetoric: context, purpose, audience, speaker/writer, subject, thesis/claim, appeals of ethos/logos/pathos, assumptions, patterns of development, (narration, description, process analysis, exemplification, comparison and contrast, classification and division, definition, cause and effect)  The process of close reading: imagery, word choice for connotation, specificity, levels of formality/informality, style (tropes such as metaphor, simile, personification and hyperbole; schemes such as unusual sentence structure such as parallelism, juxtaposition and antithesis - see Glossary) Then select 5 passages that you believe represent Gladwell’s style and illustrate his argument. Construct a Dialectal Journal by expanding some of your book annotations (see Chapter 2 in the Lang of Comp text, pages 48-55 for annotating and organizing annotations). You should have 5 entries total (selected from your book annotations). Please type the chart.  Represent passages from the beginning, middle and last parts of the book  Represent passages chosen for both rhetorical emphasis and close reading. Sample several of these elements; do not focus on only one or two. (3) The Crucible by Arthur Miller Annotate Miller’s play. Depending on chapter length, you should identify (do more than highlight) approximately 10 interesting passages or quotations per act. Your annotations should be guided by your understanding of:  The key elements of rhetoric: context, purpose, audience, speaker/writer, subject  The process of close reading: imagery, word choice for connotation, specificity, levels of formality/informality, style (tropes such as metaphor, simile, personification and hyperbole; schemes such as unusual sentence structure such as parallelism, juxtaposition and antithesis - see Glossary) Have your annotations organized and ready to use for our unit on Puritans and Miller’s play. (4) Current Events: Follow an op-ed writer. Read 4 – 5 op-ed articles throughout the summer. Be prepared to discuss. 2 SUPPLEMENTARY READING LIST: MEMOIR/AUTOBIOGRAPHY These books will allow you to make broader and deeper connections as you think and write. You are not limited to the books on this list. We encourage you to read as much as you can over the summer. Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams Dorothy Allison, Two or Three Things I Know For Sure Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, etc. Jimmy Santiago Baca, A Place to Stand James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son Russell Baker, Growing Up Ishmael Beah , A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Rick Bragg, It's All Over But the Shoutin' Jill Ker Conway, The Road from Coorain Malcolm Cowley, Exile's Return Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand, and Stars Henry Louis Gates Jr., Colored People Graham Greene, A Sort of Life Moss Hart, Act One Lillian Hellman, Pentimento Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast Alfred Kazin, A Walker in the City Helen Keller, The Story of My Life Haven Kimmel, A Girl Named Zippy Maxine Hong Kingston, Woman Warrior Jamaica Kincaid, Annie John Larkin, Emma, Finding George Orwell in Burma C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy Norman MacLean, A River Runs Through It Wangari Maathai, Unbowed Mark Mathabane, Kaffir Boy James McBride, The Color of Water Mary McCarthy, Memoirs of a Catholic Girlhood Wright Morris, Will's Boy Pablo Neruda, Memoirs Kathleen Norris, Dakota Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father Naomi Shihab Nye, Never in a Hurry Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory Mike Rose, Lives on the Boundary Esmeralda Santiago, When I Was Puerto Rican Barbara Scot, The Violet Shyness of Their Eyes, Prairie Reunion Richard Selzer, Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery Kate Simon, Bronx Primitive Wole Soyinka, Ake Wallace Stegner, Wolf Willow Lewis Thomas, Lives of a Cell, etc. James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times Mark Twain, Roughing It, Life on the Mississippi 3